Exploring Trust Formation and Antecedents in Social Commerce

Abstract

With the rapid increase in social media users and netizens globally, the proclivity for online shopping using social commerce (SC) platforms cannot be ignored. Trust has been recognised as a constant challenge in the context of social commerce due to the lack of face-to-face interaction. Therefore, there is a dire need to enhance the trust of consumers in social commerce platforms. However, the research in the formation of trust in social commerce and antecedents remains limited. In addition, the existing SC research failed to include its multidimensional view to investigate user behaviour. This study fills this gap and extends existing knowledge by developing a model exploring the antecedents of trust in social commerce. Drawing upon the social-technical theory and trust lens, this study attempts to identify the role of (i) structural assurance (SA) and SC platforms as an institution-based trust, (ii) trust in sellers and trust in SC community as trusting beliefs, and (iii) trust in online payment as a cognitive trust on trust and intention of the social commerce. This research employs a dataset (n = 406) collected using an online survey; the research subjects were recruited from Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. This study uses the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to analyse the data and to confirm the hypothesis proposed in the research model. The empirical findings show that trust in social commerce influences behavioural intention. In addition, trust in the SC platform, the SC community, and online payment influence the trust in SC. Likewise, SA and trust in the SC platform have a significant relationship with trust in sellers, the SC community, and online payment. Finally, this study discusses the theoretical contributions and practical insights to several limitations and suggests directions for future research.